Today we’re pleased to announce the v201611 release of the DFP API. This release contains the addition of MobileApplicationService, which allows you to claim apps from various app stores to use for targeting in your network. For a full list of API changes in v201611, see the release notes.

With each new release comes a new deprecation. If you're using v201602 or earlier, it's time to look into upgrading. Also remember that a double sunset happened at the end of November 2016 - both v201508 and v201511 have been sunset.

What do I need to do?
Please migrate any existing Flash display ads to HTML5 by January 2, 2017, when Flash ads will stop serving. In May 2016 we announced that you would no longer be able to upload Flash display ads in AdWords by June 30, 2016 with tips on how to migrate.

If you have video ads built in Flash, they will not be affected at this time. You do not need to migrate these ads.

Ads API Client Libraries: Each of the client libraries has examples on how to add an HTML5 ad and how to upload a media bundle with the contents of the ad. Here are the examples for Java to get you started:

Episode 11 of The Mobile Ads Garage is live on YouTube! If you haven't seen it before, The Mobile Ads Garage is a video tutorial series that covers how to use the Mobile Ads SDK to display ads from AdMob and Doubleclick for Publishers. Each episode covers one aspect of the SDK, breaks down the feature, and shows screencasts of real implementations on both Android and iOS – all in a friendly format.

In a break with tradition, this video is a deep technical dive on one subject: Native Ads Express in an Android RecyclerView. You'll learn how to modify an existing RecyclerView implementation to include Native Express ads, all the way from updating the adapter to loading the ads. In addition, you'll get a clever trick that makes sure your ads are always sized to match the UI, so they fit right in with your content.

If you haven't used Native Ads Express before, you can see them in action in Episode 7. Andrew and Gary cover all the basics: loading ads, placing them in layouts and storyboards, and using CSS to style the ads to match your app.

We'd love to hear which AdMob features you'd like to learn more about. The
comment sections for the videos are open, and you're welcome to toss out ideas
for new episodes and examples you'd like to see. If you have a technical
question relating to something discussed in one of the episodes, you can bring
it to our support
forum.

As always, if you have any questions about these changes or any other questions or feedback about the Content API for Shopping, please let us know on the forum! - Stevie Strickland, Content API for Shopping Team

Since we introduced expanded text ads (ETA) earlier this year, we’ve recommended that advertisers create and test multiple ETAs to determine what messages perform best for their business. To help you do this at scale, we’ve created the ETA Transition Helper, a powerful tool that allows you to easily create ETAs in bulk using AdWords Scripts and Google Sheets.

This tool helps you save time by using your existing standard text ads (STAs) as a blueprint for your new ETAs. The ETA Transition Helper ensures your expanded text ads are formatted according to the new character limits and that their display URLs use the final URL's domain. After creating the new ETA, the tool displays your current STA and the new ETA side-by-side in a Google Sheet so you can easily compare the two ads. Please note that the tool's interface is only offered in English at this time, but it supports exporting STAs and creating ETAs in all languages.

As a reminder, starting January 31st, 2017, you will no longer be able to create or edit STAs, though existing STAs will continue to serve alongside ETAs.

On February 1, 2017, we will implement a new deprecation policy for the IMA SDKs
for iOS and Android. The Flash and HTML5 SDKs are unaffected by this policy
because they are downloaded at runtime, so all developers are always using the
latest version.

Each release will be deprecated 12 months after its successor is
released.

As of February 1, 2017, the following SDK versions will no longer be supported:

IMA Android prior to version 3.1.3

IMA iOS prior to version 3.1.0

If you are currently on one of these versions, we strongly suggest upgrading to
the latest version before the new policy takes effect.

Once an SDK version is deprecated, we cannot guarantee that version will
continue to work. If we receive reports of crashes related to a deprecated
version of the IMA SDK, we may discontinue serving ads to that version. We will
also no longer field support requests for these versions on the IMA SDK support
forum.

To maintain support, publishers on the latest version of an SDK will have 12
months to move to a new version once its successor is released. To "support" an
SDK means we will investigate bugs in that SDK version and work on fixes. If a
bug fix requires a change to the library itself, the fix will be applied to the
newest version.

For a list of supported SDK versions and their deprecation dates, see the new
deprecation schedule pages for iOS
and Android.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us via the support
forum.

Update December 9, 2016: The previous version of this announcement indicated that this would be rolled out within the next month. This is now going to be rolled out over the next few months. If you would like to check to see if your account has this feature enabled, try editing one of your ads and adding a {. A drop-down should appear. If the option IF function is available, then the feature has been enabled for the account.
Over the next month, AdWords is rolling out to all accounts two new ways to customize your ads.

Default values inAd Customizers give you an option of providing a default value when referencing a custom value from a feed. This means that you will no longer be required to provide a static ad in your ad group when using ad customizers. Woohoo!

IF functions let you insert a customized message in your ad based on who’s searching and what device they’re searching on, all without using a feed.

Default values in Ad Customizers

What’s changing? The existing syntax for inserting a custom value from a feed is {=FeedName.AttributeName}. The new syntax allows for an optional default value {=FeedName.AttributeName:default value}, but you can still use the existing syntax if you don’t want to specify a default value. Check out the Customizing text ads guide to learn more about setting up an ad with ad customizers.

How does this affect me? If you have colons in your Feed.name or in your FeedAttribute.name, then add a backslash before the colon to escape the colon. Having a colon without a backslash causes anything after it to be interpreted as a default value when used in an ad customizer. If you no longer want to have a static ad in your ad group, then start adding default values to your ad customizers and delete the static ad.

IF functions

What’s changing? The new IF function allows text to be specified in a text ad based on device or audience, with the default text being optional. If default text is not specified, then a static ad is required in the ad group. The syntax is:

How does this affect me? If you want to add customized text to your ad based on device or audience, start adding the IF functions to your text ads. For examples, check out the Customizing text ads guide.